Politics and Philosophy: Niccolò Machiavelli and Louis Althusser’s Aleatory Materialism

353 Pages·2011·4.79 MB·English

by  Mikko Lahtinen

Politics and Philosophy
Historical
Materialism
Book Series
EditorialBoard
Paul Blackledge, Leeds – Sébastien Budgen, Paris
Michael Krätke, Lancaster – Stathis Kouvelakis,
London – Marcel van der Linden, Amsterdam
China Miéville, London – Paul Reynolds, Lancashire
Peter Thomas, Amsterdam
VOLUME23
Politics and Philosophy
Niccolò Machiavelli and Louis Althusser’s
Aleatory Materialism
By
Mikko Lahtinen
Translatedby
Gareth Griffiths and Kristina Kölhi
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2009
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Lahtinen,Mikko.
Politicsandphilosophy:NiccoloMachiavelliandLouisAlthusser'saleatorymaterialism/by
MikkoLahtinen;translatedbyGarethGriffithsandKristinaKohli.
p.cm.–(Historicalmaterialismbookseries,1570-1522;23)
TranslatedfromtheFinnish.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-90-04-17650-8(hardback:alk.paper)1.Althusser,Louis,1918-1990–Politicaland
socialviews.2.Machiavelli,Niccolò,1469-1527.3.Materialism.I.Griffiths,Gareth.II.Kölhi,
Kristina.III.Title.IV.Series.
B2430.A474L342009
194–dc22
2009011373
ISSN 1570-1522
ISBN 9789004176508
Copyright2009byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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Contents
Foreword..................................................................... ix
Author’sPrefacetotheEnglishEdition .................................... xi
ChapterOne IntroductoryComments .................................... 1
1.1.Althusser,Machiavelliandpoliticaltheory ............................ 1
1.2.Althusser’scontributiontoMachiavellischolarship .................. 9
1.2.1.Thegeneralandtheparticular ................................... 9
1.2.2.Thepoliticalpraxisofaprince ................................... 10
1.2.3.Aleatorydynamics................................................ 11
1.2.4.‘Veritàeffettualedellacosa’–‘Theeffectivetruth’ .............. 13
1.2.5.Moralsandpolitics................................................ 14
1.2.6.Materialistpoliticaltheory........................................ 15
1.3.Theapproachofthepresentstudy ..................................... 16
ChapterTwo ACritiqueofHegelianism.................................. 19
2.1.AcritiqueofHegeliandialectics........................................ 20
2.2.Althusser’sMarxism.................................................... 30
2.2.1.Overdeterminationandunderdetermination.................... 33
The‘morphology’oftheover-andunderdeterminationof
contradictions................................................... 36
Therealityofcontradictions ...................................... 41
Displacementsandcondensationsinideologicalapparatuses–
ideologicalapparatusesasthedisplacementsand
condensationsofcontradictions ............................... 43
Themetaphoricnatureofthetopographic ....................... 49
Russia1917......................................................... 55
2.2.2.Summary:complexityandchaos................................. 59
vi • Contents
2.2.3.Engelsandindividualwill........................................ 63
Theindividualwill ................................................ 66
2.3.Althusser’sself-criticism................................................ 72
2.3.1.Elliott’stheoreticistinterpretationofAlthusser.................. 81
2.4.The‘Machiavellian’Lenin .............................................. 83
2.4.1.Towardsatheoreticisationofpractice............................ 87
ChapterThree AleatoryMaterialism...................................... 89
3.1.Prologue:Machiavelli’ssolitude........................................ 89
3.2.Theundergroundcurrentofthematerialismoftheencounter........ 95
3.2.1.Law................................................................ 100
3.2.2.Surprises........................................................... 104
ChapterFour Althusser’sAleatoryMachiavelli.......................... 109
4.1.Apreliminaryschema:thetwodimensionsofMachiavelli’s
differentiaespecificae...................................................... 109
4.1.1.‘Theoretical’differentiaspecifica ................................... 110
4.1.2.‘Political’differentiaspecifica....................................... 111
4.2.Machiavelli’sdifferentiaspecificainthehistoryofpoliticalthought ... 113
4.2.1.Machiavelli–Montesquieu–Aristotle........................... 115
4.3.ThepraxisofThePrince:thetextasapoliticalact ..................... 125
4.3.1.Machiavelli’sutopianism......................................... 136
4.4.Thepraxisoftheprince:thealeatorytruth ............................ 139
4.4.1.Thealeatoryofthe‘subjective’and‘objective’................... 144
Themanofactionandhiscase.................................... 157
4.4.2.Beyondthealeatoryofthe‘subjective’and‘objective’ .......... 162
4.5.Thepraxisoftheprince:theprojectandstrategyofthenewprince.. 171
4.5.1.MachiavelliandPolybius......................................... 172
4.5.2.Theconditionsforthepoliticalprojectandstrategyofthenew
prince.............................................................. 178
4.5.3.Thelawlesshero .................................................. 183
4.5.4.Apopularideologicalfigure...................................... 187
Theinstinctofthefox.............................................. 187
Displacementsandcondensations................................ 197
4.5.5.Thedialecticoftheinterestsoftheprinceandthepeople....... 200
4.5.6.Thestateandthelaw ............................................. 205
Contents • vii
4.6.Epilogue:Althusser’sinterpretationofMachiavelli................... 212
ChapterFive TheSubversiveMachiavelli ................................ 215
5.1.Theartofwarandtheartofpolitics ................................... 215
5.2.Thedestructivecurrentoffortuna ...................................... 223
5.2.1.Theactor’sprudence.............................................. 240
5.3.Theaspectsoffortuna ................................................... 242
5.3.1.KronosandKairos.................................................. 252
5.4.LadyFortunaandtheyoungmen ...................................... 253
5.5.TheriseandfallofCesareBorgia....................................... 256
5.5.1.Cesare’smisfortune............................................... 262
5.6.‘Astablepeople’......................................................... 265
5.6.1.‘Apeople’anda‘nation’inthecontextandterminologyofthe
earlycinquecento................................................... 274
5.6.2.MachiavelliintheFlorentinecontext ............................ 281
Classpositionandambitions...................................... 285
5.6.3.‘Utopian’texts..................................................... 290
NazioneandMachiavelli........................................... 297
5.7.Epilogue:Machiavelliandthetamingofchance....................... 302
ChapterSix Conclusion.................................................... 307
References.................................................................... 313
Index ......................................................................... 323

Foreword
In the mid-1990s, at the time I was completing the
originalFinnishversionofthisbook,nowpublished
here in English, we were living in the aftermath of
thecrisisinMarxismandthecollapseof‘realsocial-
ism’. This situation also created a less favourable
academic-intellectualatmosphereforwritingabook
onacommunistphilosophersuchasLouisAlthus-
ser. In a situation where the initiative of the Left
was at a low ebb, it felt very reassuring to read –
apartfromGramsci’sPrisonNotebooks–Althusser’s
then recently posthumously published analyses of
Machiavelli and ‘aleatory materialism’. It was
illuminating to delve into his later views – views
that can be traced to his earlier writings – on the
theoreticalproblematicsofthepoliticalintervention
reflected in his analyses. I found an Althusser for
whomitwasessential–nomore,noless–toreflect
onthequestionof‘whatistobedone’intheconjunc-
ture, or to reflect on how the ‘conjunctural’ under-
standingofhistoryandrealitycouldofferatheoret-
icalstartingpointforasubversivepoliticalstrategy.
In the presentbook, itis indeedessential to read
Althusser above all as someone who advanced a
theory ofmaterialistpolitics,andwhoselaterwrit-
ings open up potential – albeit incomplete – views
fortheadvancementofMarxistpoliticaltheory.As